Cannery Row

Cannery Row is a 1982 American comedy-drama film directed by David S. Ward in his directorial debut, starring Nick Nolte and Debra Winger. The movie is adapted from John Steinbeck's novels Cannery Row (1945) and Sweet Thursday (1954). Plot During World War II, declining fish stocks lead to the shutdown of the fishing and canning industry in Monterey, California. The bums and prostitutes living on the city's skid row lead colorful and adventurous lives in a balmy seaside setting. Eddie "Doc" Daniels, a self-employed marine biologist, lives in a dockside warehouse and researches octopi. Suzy DeSoto, a girl from the local bordello, is working there only out of necessity. A collection of linked vignettes describes life on Cannery Row. It is depicted as an impoverished area inhabited by a motley band of people who have experienced failures, but somehow have found their niche and a community of strangely kindred souls.